Announcing Everyone's Best Entertainment of 2023! (Part 1)

What was the entertainment content that excited you the most this year?

With only a few nights left until the New Year, the holidays are almost here.
Christmas is over, and the year-end mood is finally in the air.

This year, too, was supported by a lot of content, including sports, movies, music, comedy, and dramas.
So, as a wrap-up for this year, we once again asked SKY PerfecTV! employees about their "#PersonalBestEntertainmentContent of 2023"!

(Please tell us your "best entertainment content" of the year in the comments!)

"THIS SUMMER FESTIVAL TOUR '23" ([Alexandros]'s joint gig tour) Hokkaido performance

Recommended by: Y-san

This live concert (commonly known as "DisFes") is a live event that [Alexandros] has been holding since the band's formation, and in 2023, it was held in a joint gig and tour format for the first time in about 9 years.

The Hokkaido performance was a joint gig with the artist WurtS, who is a junior at the same agency. Not only was the performance by both groups great, but it was also nice to see the relationship between the two groups at the same agency, such as the admiration for their seniors and the way they doted on their juniors.
Also, the collaboration song between the two groups was announced and performed for the first time at this concert, so I was very happy to be there, and every time that song is played at festivals since then, I remember the DisFes Hokkaido performance (lol).
Also, personally, this was the first live house concert since COVID-19 was downgraded to Class 5, and it was great to feel that the excitement of live houses had returned after overcoming a period with many restrictions.

P.S.
I chose DisFes because I am in charge of music, but it was a year filled with (or rather, I visited) so many good contents that I can't even list them all, such as FROLIC A HOLIC (Tokyo 03 x Creepy Nuts performance), The Great Muta's retirement match, Sarugorira's King of Conte victory, 04 Limited Sazabys' Budokan performance, and Comedy Kageidan's solo live show.

With the ban on vocalizing lifted, it was a year where we could finally experience the excitement of live concerts and the experience of "visiting many venues" again!

Click here for the collaboration song between [Alexandros] and WurtS!

Ao-iro 1-go "Negitoro Ouji" (from Saturday Premium "THE CONTE" (Fuji TV))

Recommended by: K-san

I didn't know these comedians before, but this was the funniest skit I saw this year! (I had it recorded, but I watched it 5 or 6 times (lol)).
I will withhold the details for those who haven't seen it yet, but I recommend it to the following people.

1. People who like to see arrogant people fall from grace
2. People who end up laughing in situations where they shouldn't
3. People who like to go along with the flow of the moment

Watching this skit makes you want to be careful not to be rude to shop staff and to be careful about misreading kanji!

Everyone, please take a look!!

This year, comedy was really exciting with M-1 and King of Conte! Ao-iro 1-go's "Negitoro Ouji" is a skit I love too (lol).

WBC Final Japan vs. USA

Recommended by: K-san and A-san

There were many scenes that surpassed manga, and it gave great excitement to all of Japan.

There were many highlights even before the tournament, not just the final, but if I had to choose 3 scenes from the final, the following were the best.

・The game-tying home run by Murakami, following his walk-off RBI in the previous day's Mexico game where he was struggling.
・The 8th and 9th innings, closed out by Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani, who supported the Japanese pitching staff.
・The final showdown against his then-teammate Mike Trout, which Ohtani closed out.

I think manga artists who create baseball manga in the future will be in trouble because they won't be able to make a manga unless they create a character that surpasses Ohtani (lol).

We can't end the year without talking about this... The WBC, the whole country was so excited, wasn't it!
The semifinal against Mexico and the final against the US were both just too dramatic. I recently watched the movie 'Beyond the Dream: The Record of Becoming World Number One' that was broadcast on TV, and it brought back all that excitement.

B'z LIVE-GYM Pleasure 2023 -STARS-

Recommended by: Y-san

An anniversary live concert held every 5 years by the legendary rock band 'B'z,' which has the highest CD sales in Japan.

Seeing them perform everything from classic hits to old album tracks that only die-hard fans know, all in the 'current' B'z style, gave me goosebumps.

During the MC,'When I look back on these 35 years, all of you who come to our concerts were shining like stars'they said, sharing the thoughts behind the tour title 'STARS,' and I couldn't stop the tears and sweat.

I looked at the setlist, and it was full of masterpieces...
Seeing them still active and cool even after 35 years is just irresistible!

Sanctuary (Netflix)

Recommended by: T-san

This is Sanctuary, which has been called the sumo version of Slam Dunk.
I chose this as the work that personally got my heart racing the most!

Since you can't use stunts in sumo, they started by building their bodies, so the passion of the actors playing the wrestlers really came through. While it has the feel of a fighting manga or a sports drama, the unique worldview of the sumo industry and the life story of each individual were interesting, and the matches left me breathless.

(I was torn between 'Brush Up Life' and 'Daga, Jonetsu wa Aru,' but...)
It was definitely the #1 drama that left me dying for a sequel!

Chashi!

This is a Netflix original drama.
I've been curious about it but hadn't watched it yet, but T-san's recommendation makes me want to see it... I'll watch it during the New Year holidays...!

Daga, Jonetsu wa Aru (Nippon TV)

Recommended by: Tantan

A drama with a strong following that depicts the lives of Masayasu Wakabayashi of Audrey and Ryota Yamasato of Nankai Candies, as well as the formation and dissolution of their unit, 'Tarinaifutari.'

With Kaito Takahashi of King & Prince and Shintaro Morimoto of SixTONES playing the roles, it was a drama that had not only Wakabayashi, Yamasato, and comedy fans, but even me, a fan of the two cast members, feeling nervous wondering 'What's going to happen!?' But once it started, everyone was pleasantly surprised by their 'acting that wasn't just an impression, but a possession,'acting that was no longer an impression, but a possessionand from then on, I watched it every week with tears in my eyes as a gritty and realistic half-life story of Wakabayashi and Yamasato.

I chose it as my best of the year because I felt that 'it's not just a reenactment drama. History is still being made right now...!' and I thought that was groundbreaking.

During the broadcast, Wakabayashi himself brought snacks to the set, and Shintaro-kun appeared as a guest on Yamasato's radio show, so we could enjoy the 'interaction between the two sets of Tarinaifutari,' but what was amazing was the final episode, where'even the appearances of the real Wakabayashi and Yamasato during the drama's broadcast were reenacted within the drama'!
I thought they would reenact things up to a point very close to the present, but I never expected to see the video I had watched on social media just a few weeks earlier being reenacted by the two actors, Kaito-kun and Shintaro-kun!

I really got goosebumps at the scriptwriting in such a short span of time.

There's still more of everyone's best entertainment to come.
Tomorrow, we will deliver[Part 2]!

(Text = Tantan)

▼ Click here for last year's best entertainment!